UAE bag second spot with 23 medals at GCC Beach Games in Muscat
The games began on April 5 ended on Friday and featured 330 athletes from GCC, with the UAE delegation comprising 77 athletes.
Salem Al Baloushi added a bronze to the medal tally in the men's long jump with a distance of 6.55 metres, bringing the UAE's final count to 23 medals: Eight gold, eight silver, and seven bronze.
The UAE competed across all eight beach sports disciplines including football, handball, volleyball, athletics, tent pegging, sailing, swimming, and paragliding.
Oman topped the final standings with a total of 45 medals (20 gold, 18 silver, and seven bronze). Saudi Arabia finished third with 18 medals (four gold, six silver, and eight bronze), while Bahrain dropped to fourth with 17 medals (four gold, four silver, and none bronze).
The UAE sailing team earned the highest number of medals within the national delegation, claiming 11 medals in total. These included gold in the Optimist team event and a K4 gold won by Marwa Al Hammadi. Al Yazia Al Hammadi secured silver in the same race. In the K6 category, Dhooha Al Beshr won gold and Kamilia Khalifa took bronze.
Zayed Al Hosani won gold in the Optimist (junior) category, with Khalifa Al Rumaithi taking gold in the overall classification for the same class. Othman Al Hammadi captured gold in the boys' K6 race.
Adel Khalid Al Bastaki secured silver in the youth K7 category, while Mohammed Al Marzouqi claimed silver in the K4 event. Madia Al Niyadi won bronze in the girls' Optimist class.
The UAE athletics team captured six medals —three silver and three bronze. Silver medals were earned by the men's 4x relay team (Naseeb Salmeen, Mohammed Al Nubi Al Hammadi, Salem Al Baloushi, and MoazFawzi), the women's 4x relay team (Fatima Al Baloushi, Mahra Abdulrahim, Fatima Khalil, and Jawaher Fareed), and Alia Yousif Al Hammadi in the women's high jump.
Bronze medals were won by Abeer Ibrahim Al Baloushiin the women's triple jump, Roqaya Al Marzouqi in the athletics mile race, and Salem Al Baloushi in the men's long jump.
The UAE aerosports team also delivered a strong showing, winning three medals—two golds by Abdullah Nasser Al Hammadi in paragliding (target landing and cone slalom), and a team silver in paragliding.
In tent pegging, the UAE team claimed bronze in the javelin team event through athletes Fahad Shanwan Al Shammari, Saif Mubarak Al Harthi, Mohammed Abdullah Hussein, Khalid Al Masoud Al Hashemi, and Eisa Abdulmajeed Al Baloushi.
The national beach handball team earned bronze after securing four wins against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, despite two losses to Oman.
Nasser Salem Al Hammadi, Secretary-General of the UAE Handball Federation, dedicated the achievement to the UAE's leadership and the national Olympic movement.
He said: 'The Board of Directors of the UAE Handball Federation extends its sincere congratulations to the nation's leadership, the National Olympic Movement, and the wider handball family in the UAE on winning the bronze medal in beach handball at the 3rd GCC Beach Games held in the Sultanate of Oman.'
He added: 'Despite a short preparation period and the pressures of a packed domestic competition calendar, the dedicated cooperation of our clubs played a pivotal role in achieving this result. We are deeply grateful for their support.
'This achievement would not have been possible without the effective management of the Federation's national teams committee, and the determination shown by our players, technical staff, and management team. They have demonstrated that UAE handball deserves its place on the podium, and they have added a valuable medal to the nation's tally at this prestigious regional event.'
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